Hamilton to be named superintendent Tuesday

Updated 10:12 pm, Saturday, June 16, 2012

STAMFORD -- The city school board is expected to formally appoint Winifred Hamilton as superintendent in a special meeting Tuesday, according to several board members.

Hamilton has been serving as interim superintendent since September and was named acting superintendent in June after former schools superintendent Joshua Starr accepted a position leading the Montgomery County, Md., school district.

Hamilton has worked in the district for more than four decades. She began as a physical education teacher at Dolan Middle School, and worked her way through the ranks as a middle school assistant principal and principal before heading downtown to serve as assistant superintendent and deputy superintendent.

"It's fantastic when you have someone who's an in-house candidate, who knows the system and has been here so long," Board Vice President Jerry Pia said Friday afternoon. "She did just a wonderful job with the budget and it wasn't just financially. She added the world language and other new initiatives."

Hamilton's proposed 3.5 percent budget hike for the 2012-13 fiscal year was the second lowest increase in a decade when she presented it in January. It included new items such as a world language program in the elementary school, summer school for young students and funding to explore how to bring more outplaced special education students back to the district. It also included nearly $2.5 million in savings gained through renegotiated vendor contracts and implementing recommendations of a special education task force.

Board member Jackie Heftman said she would not comment on who the board planned to appoint during Tuesday evening's meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. in the fifth-floor conference room at Government Center. But she would say she was happy with the decision, and felt the board's choice candidate "meets the profile that the community developed through our many focus groups."

A leadership profile was made public in December, which spelled out the three most important qualities in a superintendent, according to the public. The community mandated that a top contender be, above all, someone with a distinguished record of improving student learning.

"The profile called for someone with exceptional interpersonal skills, an appreciation for and success with meeting the diverse needs of students and someone who is visible and engages with the community," Heftman said.

Hamilton fits those specs exactly, said Pia.

"I think the very first time I read the focus group report, my comment was to other board members that personally, it sounds like Dr. Hamilton to me," he said Friday afternoon. "This will be an excellent choice."

An advertisement for the position was published in the national trade journal Education Week at the beginning of May, and Hamilton was interviewed later that month, said Heftman, who also noted that Hamilton was the only candidate formally interviewed for the position.

But despite being the only candidate vetted by the board, more than one board member said they did not know if Tuesday's vote would be unanimous.

"I am hoping that the new superintendent will be appointed by a unanimous vote," Heftman said.

Hamilton declined to comment on the situation.

"As you can imagine, it's not appropriate for me to comment at this time," Hamilton said. "This is a Board of Education issue. It's in their hands and I would really say it's not appropriate for me to make a comment until after the board confers on this."

In addition to her 42 years as an employee of Stamford Public Schools, Hamilton has also served as an adjunct professor at both Sacred Heart University and the University of Connecticut. She is a Connecticut native who graduated from Lauralton Hall in Milford, and holds several degrees, including a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Union Institute & University, according to her resume.

Heftman said she hopes for a healthy turnout at Tuesday night's meeting when the board officially votes on its choice candidate to lead the district in the coming years.